


Love --> Building on Fire

by Heavy Henry (HeavyHenry)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Corporate, Anxiety, Dead People, Depression, Franz Kafka References, Gen, M/M, This is gonna get dark, Unethical Experimentation, Workplace Relationship, ambiguous setting, any resemblance to actual CIA experiments is intentional, any resemblance to actual fulfillment centers is purely coincidental, i sure don't know, is it the 80s or is it a future dystopia?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:01:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28437303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeavyHenry/pseuds/Heavy%20Henry
Summary: In which Yuuri is employed in a warehouse and Victor works in human resources and strange things are afoot.aka Kafka-esque corporate horror/drama featuring ghosts, unethical psychological experimentation, and fires.I really don't know what to say about this one.No specific warnings apply to this chapter. I have likely been over-cautious with major archive warnings, but better safe than sorry. I will continue my practice of adding more specific warnings in the end of notes of the chapters to which they apply.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri & Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Love --> Building on Fire

One morning, as Yuuri Katsuki was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been transformed into a monstrous verminous bug.

Not literally.

And not because this isn’t that kind of a story.

Because it is.

That’s just not what happened on this particular morning.

Mr. Katsuki’s transformation was of a purely spiritual nature. In truth, it was not unexpected. He had felt the change coming for several weeks. His hand twitched feebly toward the window, hopeful that a glimpse of sun would banish the shadows of the night. It was not to be. The day hovered ominous behind a pall of fog, somehow dim and too bright all at once. Yuuri inhaled through his teeth and let the bedsheet that served as a curtain fall back into place.

A glance at the clock told him what he already knew. He had slept through his alarm. Calling in sick would not be an option. He had already missed most of the previous week, naively convinced that the feeling would pass and that by Monday he would be able to function as if he were an actual human.

(get up)

It took a couple of tries, but Yuuri finally levered himself into a seated position. The night of restless sleep had only aggravated the tightness in his lower back. 

When Yuuri looked down, he was mildly surprised to see, not the skittery black claws that he had somehow expected, but instead his pale and fleshy legs. He stretched and was greeted not by the rustling of wings on his carapace, but by a symphony of pops and crackles that were only somewhat less upsetting. Maybe, just maybe, Yuuri would arrive at the office to find that his request for a padded floor mat had been processed. After all, he had only submitted it six months ago, along with letters from three different physicians, a form signed by the insurance company’s patient advocate, and three forms that had been initialled by both his supervisor and Human Resources.

Was that slim hope enough to excite Yuuri about the week ahead? 

No. 

It was not.

He couldn’t hear any sounds from beyond his room. His roommate must be working the early shift this week. Or perhaps not. Yuuri’s chronic tardiness had long since dissuaded Phichit from waiting for him. He wondered what would happen if he just stayed in bed? Would someone eventually come for him?

No.

That was stupid. Of course they wouldn’t do that. That wasn’t the world he lived in. He would get a phone call. Maybe a text from Tino. Maybe another the next day. Eventually someone from HR would call. 

And that would be it.

(finally)

Yuuri would be unemployed. Nothing but free time stretching in front of him as far as the eye could see. No money, nothing to distract himself from his thoughts. Just pure, uninterrupted, quality time with thee, himself, and he.

It was a sufficiently terrifying prospect that he lurched to his feet. Once the tunnel vision cleared, he managed to locate a pair of pants and a shirt. They didn’t smell great and they were basically made of wrinkles, but they weren’t actively crusty and Yuuri didn’t particularly object if the rest of the world had an added incentive to keep its distance.

Yuuri had fifteen minutes to catch the last bus that would deliver him to work on time, which meant that he could spare thirty whole seconds to grab a slice of Wonder Bread as he careened through the kitchen. He crammed it into his mouth as he grabbed his backpack. 

The world that welcomed Yuuri was a strange, flattened landscape. The haze that he’d seen from the window had receded into a solid white backdrop behind the buildings across the street. It muted the sound of traffic and gave the street an air of unreality, like a stage set. It was difficult to imagine that life existed beyond the narrow slice of the world within his view. 

Since Yuuri rarely saw anything of the world beyond his apartment, the bus, and the distribution center, this was less uncanny than it could have been. He didn’t like to take this bus. It was always far too crowded and today was no exception. Yuuri spent the ride standing, clinging to an upsettingly slimy pole while he tried not to lean too far over a woman with a fussy baby.

He was finally disgorged into air that felt only a little bit fresher than that inside the bus and set out across the parking lot. It was a large lot, as befitted a large distribution center, and Yuuri skittered across it, avoiding puddles and the drivers who were either exhausted at the end of a shift or arriving and not yet fully awake.  
Safe at the staff entrance, he went hunting for his ID card. It was only after emptying half the pockets of his backpack that he found it wedged between the yellowed pages of the paperback that he was re-reading. Triumphant, he thrust it in front of the electric eye and listened for the soft ‘clunk’ of the lock disengaging. He shoved his things back in the bag and stood, only to hear the louder ‘clunk’ of the door locking again. He sighed and pulled his badge back out. This time, instead of the welcoming ‘clunk,’ the sensor greeted him with the shrill buzz of failure. It took at least six more attempts before he was finally admitted.

From there it was a short jaunt down the cinderblock hallway to the windowless staff area. There were windows at the front of the building. That was where well-lit offices housed administration, human resources, conference rooms, reception desks. Yuuri had last been up there a couple of weeks ago to interview for a position as a benefits analyst. He slammed the door to his locker harder than was probably necessary.

He scanned his badge at the time clock and made his way to his assigned zone. When he stopped to grab his headset, the shift manager, Tino, waved him over. 

“Yuuri! You feeling better?”

“I guess.”

(no)

Tino looked at him. Yuuri was not pleased to have so much attention directed his way. He generally tried to avoid attracting much notice, either positive or negative. It had seemed like a wise policy, like a safe policy, at least until that position in HR had opened up. 

“You don’t look great, kid.”

“I guess I’m not awake yet. I’m fine. Really.”

(I’m not great)

Tino passed over the headset. “Well, keep an eye on the time. There’s a new guy starting today up in admin, and he wants the Tour.”

Yuuri groaned. The office staff was offered warehouse tours as part of their onboarding. There were also tours for investors or administrative staff from the various other PlumBBob corporate offices around the world. Yuuri hated the tours. It made him feel like an animal in a zoo. He didn’t usually get a warning, though. “Why are you telling me?”

“Ah, see, Jimmy usually does the tours.” Jimmy was a retiree who, for completely unfathomable reasons, continued to volunteer for the corporation.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Ah, I guess it happened while you were out.” To his credit, Tino looked genuinely apologetic. “Jimmy’s in the hospital.”  
“Oh. Okay, so…” Yuuri wondered how much prompting would be needed.

“So they asked me if I could spare someone.”

(Oh no)

Yuuri had to take a deep breath. “Me?”

Tino shrugged. “You know your stuff. I’m pretty sure you won’t say anything inappropriate. You’re here. I can’t do it, two of the packers didn’t show up today.”

“Hrrng.”

“That’s the spirit!” Tino patted Yuuri’s shoulder. “Be up in reception at 1:00, okay!”

Yuuri lifted a hand as he shuffled off to the shelves, the lights clicking on above him as he pushed his cart to the zone that he was working in that morning. He paused to let Nessie slowly chug her slow way past while he adjusted his headset. He set the volume the way he liked it, just loud enough to hear without straining, but not so loud that it drowned out the sounds around him. When he first started, he’d been so worried about mishearing the bin numbers that he’d kept the volume up. By the third week, he’d gone home with terrible tinnitus and with bruises from the every time one of the warehouse robots had snuck up behind him and banged into his calves because he couldn’t hear them approaching.

“RB-870,” Pris prompted.

“I’m going, I’m going,” he replied.

“RB-870.”

Yuuri found his first bin and got started.

At 12:00, Yuuri clocked out for lunch. Someone at corporate, in their infinite wisdom, had decided that what warehouse staff truly wanted was a basketball half-court, cordoned off by a chain-link fence. Fortunately for Yuuri, it was really only in use when someone decided that warehouse staff needed to have their morale forcibly boosted. There was a corner of it that was hidden from anyone walking past that Yuuri had claimed. Unless the lights of the court were turned on, it was shadowed by big tanks of some sort of compressed gas with ominous warnings on the labels. This corner was where Yuuri spent most of his lunch breaks, generally napping, but sometimes reading. Today he snoozed for the first half hour, but set the alarm on his watch so that he would have enough time to make himself presentable before he headed up front.

He wished that he had been a bit more discerning when he had chosen his outfit that morning.

In the bathroom, he dampened a paper towel and wiped down his face and armpits and applied a fresh coat of deodorant from the emergency supply that he kept in his locker. He tried to get his hair to lie down, but it was a lost cause.

With nothing left to do, he meandered up to the reception area. 

The sun had come out since Yuuri had arrived that morning, and the light streaming in through the windows was almost dazzling after the dimness of the warehouse. He stood, just past the warehouse’s double doors blinking for long enough to attract the attention of the receptionist.

“Yuuri?” 

The tall guy leaning against the reception desk looked at him with mild curiosity. Yuuri couldn’t help but be surprised that he seemed so calm. Of course, he wouldn’t know that Yuuri had applied for the job he’d just started and was desperately trying to hide his resentment. Yuuri forced his face into something at least marginally friendly.

“You okay?” 

(it isn’t working)

“Yeah, hi Sara, I mean, Tino said, I’m supposed to do the tour.” He gestured at the new guy.

“Oh, how exciting!” The new guy straightened and strode toward Yuuri with such confidence that Yuuri had to take a step back. “I’m Victor. I just started in Human Resources.” He looked down at his extended hand and his face fell a little bit as he replaced it in the pocket of his khakis. “Um, you probably already knew that.” He was a little bit taller and a little bit older than Yuuri. He was a little bit more in pretty much every way that Yuuri could think of. He was probably a dream to interview while Yuuri had been awkward and stammered his way through his responses, desperation practically wafting from his pores. No wonder they had decided to go with an external applicant.

“Yeah, uh, I mean, I knew that you were new. Are new.” He swallowed. “I’m Yuuri.” The new guy had blue eyes. Very blue. Unnaturally blue. And weird hair.

(don’t stare)

“Well. Shall we?” Yuuri swept a hand at the steel doors, but the motion felt theatrical, unnatural, and he pulled it back.

Victor smiled at that and gave Yuuri a little half bow and an “After you.” Of course, when he did it, he didn’t look like he was spiritually pained by every word that he uttered. 

“Okay, follow me.” Yuuri caught Sara’s eye and nodded at her wave before turning his attention back to Victor. “For the record, I don’t usually do this. So, sorry in advance.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great,” he replied as Yuuri scrambled to catch the heavy door before it swung shut in Victor’s face. “See?”

Yuuri groaned. “The warehouse is almost a mile long, so we’re going to take one of these guys -” he gestured to the line of yellow two seater carts.

“Awesome.” Victor’s face lit up like a little kid’s. “Can I honk the horn?”

(what)

“Once, sure, whatever.” Yuuri climbed into the driver’s seat and waited for Victor to join him. “Okay, hands and feet in the vehicle at all times.”

Victor nodded, clearly trying to look serious.

“There are a couple of spots where we’ll get out and walk. When we do that, don’t, like, wander off.”

“Of course not! Safety is very important, Yuuri!”

Yuuri sighed. It was going to be a long half-hour. “Fine. Just, you know. Stay close to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> There's a room where the light won't find you  
> Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down  
> When they do, I'll be right behind you
> 
> Tears for Fears - Everybody wants to rule the world


End file.
